Page 377 of The Parkers' Handsome Holiday
None of which Jake, Drake's best friend, could answer. It was unnerving, and yet her worries dissipated when she was around Sicily and Drake. It was obvious that the man was completely taken with her friend and would do just about anything for her.
Jake was the same. Such a good man. Far better than she deserved.
"Yeah, well, my brother has no room to talk." Sicily handed her the colored pencils. "The flight to Texas is going to be long. Let's get these and you can have some fun."
"All right." Kari smiled. "What's up with your brother, Johnny? You never talk about him."
"He’s good. It’s really only my family that calls him Johnny though. You know he’s almost thirty and still acting like a twenty-year-old bad ass." She picked up a bag of chocolate near the register and glanced around. "Where the hell is Lisa? This isn't her type of store."
"Wait." Kari reached out and gripped Sicily's wrist to get her attention. "What is your brother's name? You've always referred to him as Johnny."
"That's his first name, but everyone else knows him by his middle name, Ryker." She rolled her eyes. "He's in a motorcycle gang and has been since he was a kid."
"Oh." Kari's eyes widened a little. "That explains a lot."
"Yeah, right?" Sicily turned and lifted to her toes before waving wildly.
Kari glanced over her shoulder to watch Lisa walk slowly toward them while eating gummy worms from a bag. A bag she hadn't paid for, no doubt.
"So are you thinking that Johnny or Ryker will chill out over the holidays? It's a good time of the year to try again, right?"
"No clue." She moved up to the counter and set her candies down. "He wasn't too ugly to Drake, but he thinks he knows Drake's type, and he doesn't like it. I think he wanted me to settle down with someone more like Jake. A good guy type." She shrugged.
Kari laughed and pulled out her wallet. "He is a good guy. The best I know."
"I agree." Lisa squeezed in between them. "We talking about Jake?"
"Of course." Sicily smiled. "I'm just going to have to play it by ear this year. There is no way in hell we're not going back to New York for Christmas Day. I'm the only girl in the family. My brothers need someone to cook dinner for them."
"What about Drake's family? Are you guys not going to see them?" Lisa glanced up toward the ceiling and scowled.
Kari snorted and laughed. "Wait... before you answer that, Sis, what the hell was that look for, Lisa?"
Lisa glanced down, her expression softening. "Oh. It's the Christmas music. My God I hate it. It's everywhere right now. They were playing Jingle Bells while I was trying to piss and I swear I peed all over the seat from dancing to it. It's driving me crazy."
"You're so vulgar." Sicily's turn to scowl. "I'm going to ask for my Christmas wish to be that you're less vulgar this next year."
"Such a waste of a wish." Lisa popped another gummy worm in her mouth and smiled like a tomcat. She was the perfect match for Kari's younger brother, Marc. They were like the same person in male and female versions, and from what Kari could tell, they were perfectly matched and very in love with one another.
Good. Marc deserves a happy ending after being the only man in the house most of their lives. For growing up without a father, he turned out to be a great guy.
"Okay. Tell us about Drake's family. He's so secretive about them." Kari tried not to poke too hard. Sicily was as sensitive about Drake's past as the handsome gym owner seemed to be. Something told Kari that Sicily was a little more in the know than the rest of them, which was good. To know that Sicily was seriously dating someone and didn't know about their past unnerved Kari. She'd dated Frank for four years back in New York during college and didn't know anything about his past either.
And that worked out well...
Bastard hadn't thought twice about cheating on her... multiple times.
"There's not much to tell." Sicily pushed at Kari's wallet. "I'm buying this."
"I swear he's a fucking mafia boss." Lisa moved past them and stopped in front of the cashier before glancing back at Sicily. "He is, isn't he? Just tell me. He's so dark and sexy. Surely he's pulled out a gun and popped someone in the head for fucking with his family or something like that."
Kari rolled her eyes. "You're ridiculous. This is the real world."
"It's complicated," Sicily muttered and handed her card to the older woman waiting to check them out. The poor thing's eyes were a little wide, and she was fully focused on Lisa.
"She's kidding." Kari moved up beside Lisa and slipped her arm into her. "She's had too much sugar."
The cashier smiled and busied herself as Lisa turned and moved closer to Kari, whispering, "Something is up with him. I wanna know what."
